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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is adding three new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to people’s health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. EPA’s Superfund program investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

“Superfund cleanups take contaminated properties and make them safe places for people and the environment,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “They can also return these properties to communities for productive use, which translates into job creation, increased property values, enhanced local tax bases and improved quality of life.”

Since 1983, 1,664 sites have been listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 359 sites have been cleaned up, resulting in 1,305 sites currently on the NPL (including the three sites added today). There are 59 proposed sites awaiting final agency action.

The following three sites have been added to the National Priorities List: • Jervis B. Webb Co. (former metal fabrication facility) in South Gate, Calif.;• Southern Avenue Industrial Area (adhesive manufacturer) in South Gate, Calif.;• Bremerton Gasworks (former gasworks facility) in Bremerton, Wash.

With all NPL sites, EPA works to identify companies or people responsible for the contamination at a site, and require them to conduct or pay for the clean up. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Therefore, it may be several years before significant EPA cleanup funding is required for these sites.